Jim Radogna
Keeping It Real — and Legal
Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices statutes (UDAP) cover virtually every aspect of a dealer’s sales, finance and fixed operations. Everything from advertising and marketing to consumers, staff conversations with customers, managers’ conversations with salespeople, how prices and payments are…
When Little Complaints Become Big Problems
The vast majority of dissatisfied customers who threaten to call an attorney never do. For the few who follow through, the results can be devastating. While it’s true that many customers’ complaints have little or no merit, there can be…
Dealership Harassment Claims – A Ticking Time Bomb That You Don’t Want to Explode
The recent wave of sexual harassment claims should be of concern in any type of business, dealerships included, as this trend represents a particular wake-up call to the auto industry. If you’ve been paying attention to media accounts you’ve probably…
Advertising Violations: Easy To Find And Hard To Defend Against
There’s no doubt that the right advertising program can make you plenty of money. But as they say, it’s not how much money you make but how much you get to keep that counts. Auto dealers are a favorite target…
Transparency as a competitive advantage: Is it time to change?
Dealers are constantly looking for ways to get an edge in the digital age, yet many continue to follow the same sales and advertising practices that they’ve been using for decades. The problem is that the game has changed and…
The FTC Strikes Again
And This Time it’s a Game Changer By: Jim Ragonda Back in January of 2014, I wrote in my article The FTC Strikes Again – You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet that “although it may seem that the Federal Trade Commission…
Best Practices for a Compliant Service Department
Let’s face it – service customers can be really hard to please sometimes. Despite the best efforts of dedicated dealership fixed-ops professionals, auto repair-related issues are traditionally among the most commonly-cited consumer complaints. Although many of these grievances may be…
Is Your Dealership Guilty of the Ostrich Syndrome?
The Benefits of a Compliance Audit By Jim Radogna There’s something about selling that can drive even the sane to insane lengths to do a deal. Take the case in which a Connecticut dealership was hell-bent on taking an aggressive selling…
Best Practices for a Compliant Service Department
11 points to effectively establish clear procedures By Jim Radogna Let’s face it – service customers can be really hard to please sometimes. Despite the best efforts of dedicated dealership fixed-ops professionals, auto repair-related issues are traditionally among the most commonly-cited…
Make Dealership Compliance Your Friend
Dealership Defensive Game Plan By: Jim Radogna In many dealerships, the thought of putting together a compliance program is similar to contemplating a diet and exercise regimen: you know it’s something you need to do or eventually it will catch…
How dealers can successfully generate revenue from connected services
Capgemini just released a new Connected Car Trend Radar Report which explores how OEMs can make the most of their connected services in terms of monetization. Daniel Davenport, senior director of North American automotive for Capgemini, is here to discuss…
NADA chooses Mike Stanton, an NADA insider, to replace retiring CEO Peter Welch
The National Automobile Association is promoting from within, as it names COO Mike Stanton as the organization’s next President and CEO. Stanton is set to succeed Peter Welch, who has been the association’s leader since his appointment by the NADA…
NAMAD lends a hand to minority dealerships with digital marketing training
With digital retailing becoming more valuable to dealerships than ever before, it’s important for dealers to have every resource necessary to meet the changing demands of the market. This is why the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers (NAMAD) is…
NADA Board Elects MN Dealer Paul Walser as 2021 Chairman, NC Dealer Michael Alford...
TYSONS, Va. (Oct. 20, 2020)—The 63-member Board of Directors of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) today elected Paul Walser as its 2021 chairman. “I’m humbled by the continued confidence of my fellow dealers,” said Walser, who represents Minnesota’s new-car…
4 steps to successfully manage online reviews – Erica Danford, Dealer.com
The customer review is powerful for a dealership and it’s reputation, so how can you better manage and make online reviews work for you? Today, we’re discussing tips for dealers to best gather and deploy customer reviews to boost engagement…
Tekion makes a big splash in the DMS space and public...
Welcome to another edition of The Friday 5 with Steve Greenfield, Founder and CEO of Automotive Ventures, an auto technology advisory firm that helps entrepreneurs raise money and maximize the value of their companies. Public Group Reporting We’ve entered Q3…
How car dealership leaders can create more growth opportunities for people...
Welcome back to Diversity in Automotive, brought to you by TrueCar and CarNow. In today's segment, host Cory Mosley is joined by Damon Lester, president of the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers. Diversity and inclusion have been age-old issues for…
Automotive startups make big headlines with strong funding rounds and acquisitions
Welcome to another edition of The Friday 5 with Steve Greenfield, Founder and CEO of Automotive Ventures, an auto technology advisory firm that helps entrepreneurs raise money and maximize the value of their companies. NADA Impact on Vendors Big and…
Do people of color have more leadership opportunities in automotive retail...
Welcome back to Diversity in Automotive: Tier 1 spotlight edition, brought to you by TrueCar and CarNow. In today's segment, host Cory Mosley is joined by an esteemed panel of automotive retail professionals including Gary Graves, CTO and founder of InteractiveTel,…
